Beach Blanket Santa (Holiday Brides Series) (4 page)

“I don’t think I’d better, thanks.”

The deluge continued outdoors, slamming the house with
fierce winds that howled in from the ocean and ripped in torrents across the
sound. Their small refuge was a battering ram in the eye of the storm but
fortunately had been built sturdy enough to withstand it. Over dinner, Matt had
learned that Sarah now worked as an interior designer. It was an ambition she’d
held since she was a little girl who’d meticulously stylized her dolls’ houses.
The last time he’d seen her, she’d been considering leaving her stint as a
receptionist for a political magazine and finally realizing her dream. She’d
found a paid internship at a small design company in Northern Virginia and had
eventually worked her way up. Sarah was glad to now have clients all over the
District and in parts of Maryland as well, and Matt was proud of her for
achieving her goal.

While she was just as beautiful as before, in some ways she
seemed more mature, like she’d gained inner confidence. And Matt found that
self-assurance intoxicating. He started to pour himself another glass of wine
but then thought better of it. With Sarah sitting across from him in the
candlelight, her dark eyes catching their glow, he was already feeling light-headed.
No sense mixing his emotions up further by stirring in alcohol.

She stood to clear the table, then turned toward the
oceanfront window, which was streaked by heavy slogs of rain. “I doubt that
they’re running the ferry.”

“I’ll bet that ferry stopped running hours ago,” he said,
standing and scooping up some plates as well. How he wished he had a clue as to
what went wrong all that time ago. Perhaps if he got up the nerve tonight, he’d
ask her. He clearly wasn’t going anywhere in this weather. Not only was the
ferry bound to be cancelled, the beach road that led to the dock was sure to be
knee-deep in water right now. Even if the squall magically stopped at this
moment, it would take several hours for the storm surge to subside.

Sarah walked to the kitchen and set some dishes in the sink.
“It’s fine with me if you stay here,” she said, color dusting her cheeks.

Matt set his plates on the counter and touched her arm.

She turned toward him.

“I really don’t have any other place to go.”

She flushed more brilliantly now, slightly catching her
breath. “Of course, I know that. I mean, it’s silly to think… What I mean is,
naturally you should stay. There really are no two ways about it.”

“No.”

She nervously turned on the water and began scrubbing dishes
with a furor, her dish brush circling around and around again in exactly the
same spot. Water streamed from the tap, growing hotter, steaming her face, and
adding spring to her tight curls.

“Sarah?”

“Huh?” She lifted her brow, appearing surprisingly domestic,
standing there by the sink very nearly about to scald herself.

Matt leaned forward and shut off the tap. “I think that
one’s done.”

She stared into the shiny white plate, vaguely spying her
reflection. “Uh, yup.”

“Tell you what,” he said kindly. “Why don’t you leave the
rest of them for me.”

“Really?” she asked, appearing relieved.

He motioned to the plate she’d just finished drying. “After
all, you’ve already done your share.”

Sarah was glad to have the opportunity to move to the living
area and get out of the kitchen.
If you
can’t stand the heat, indeed…
Sitting across the table from Matt had proved
dangerous enough. What with his easy demeanor and good-natured laughter, it was
simple to recall why she’d developed that raging crush on him.

“Can I fix you some tea?”

“Tea would be great,” she said, settling on the sofa.

“How about peppermint, in honor of the season?”

“Perfect!” She didn’t know what it was about Matt being near
that made her such a ball of nerves, but somehow, when he stood close, her
heart pounded faster and all reason seemed to evaporate like a wafting soap
bubble. Thank goodness he’d sent her out of the kitchen before she’d done some
serious damage to herself or the tableware.

Sarah tried to relax and tell herself she was getting all
worked up over nothing. So what if she and Matt had a past and he was spending
the night? They were two adults and certainly could handle it. It wasn’t like
there weren’t two master bedrooms here.

Sarah nabbed a magazine off the coffee table and casually
tried to survey its contents, but her gaze kept traveling away from the copy
and homing in on Matt’s muscled back. Even through his cable-knit sweater, she
could make out its contours, broad shoulders holding steady as he went about
his work. He opened a cabinet and stretched tall to grab a teapot off a high
shelf, jeans taut across his athletic backside. Sarah recalled that same derriere
rising from their cozy bed, clad in nothing but checkered boxers, and felt her
temperature rise.

“Doing all right?” he asked, turning toward her as she
fanned herself with the magazine.

“Just a little warm in here.”

“Warm? I was about to say that it’s getting chilly. Suggest
we build a fire.”

“Great idea,” Sarah said, tugging off her too-warm sweater.

Matt set the kettle on the stove, wondering what she was so
hellfire nervous about. Okay, so maybe they’d had a bit of a history. But that
was years ago. Surely she was over it by now. He was, wasn’t he? When they’d
tumbled into bed, Matt had thought of nothing more than taking Sarah in his
arms. Kissing her soundly. Making love to her… Matt’s neck flashed hot at the
memory. There’d been something almost hypnotic about her, and the way their
bodies had molded together on the dance floor had held the promise of something
more. He’d secretly liked her since that first wedding party held on Elaine’s
outdoor patio. Elaine and Robert had just gotten engaged and wanted to share
their newfound joy with a close circle of friends. As it turned out, the dinner
guests were also top picks for the wedding party, with Sarah selected as the maid
of honor and Matt designated as the best man. He’d taken Sarah a beer, spouting
some stupid line about how that meant they’d be working together. She’d
narrowed her eyes with a laugh and said,
“Don’t bet on us working together too closely.”
From that moment, he’d been
desperate to hold her and learn more about what made her beautiful brain tick.
Sarah wasn’t just the best-looking woman in the place, she was also funny and
fiery, a bright mischief burning behind those pretty brown eyes. He’d flirted
with her all evening and at every prenuptial event after. It wasn’t until the
wedding reception that she’d finally caved just a little, indicating that all
along she’d equally been interested in him.

“You going to get that?”

Matt blinked hard at the kettle squealing on the stovetop
before him. He’d been so lost in his reverie, he hadn’t heard it go off. “Yeah,
sure,” he replied as casually as he could. “Just waiting on things to get nice
and hot.”

Sarah’s eyes flashed. “It… I meant, the water… Yeah.”

He shot her a tight smile, then turned his back on her to
make tea. Hang on, this wasn’t right. All this while he’d been thinking she was
the skittish one, but just look at him.
Let’s
build a fire… Let things get nice and hot.
If he was going to come on to
her, he could at least man up and do it directly. Not that this was in his
plan. It hadn’t been his idea to walk out last time. Sarah had been the one to
tell him to hit the road. And, given that the roads around here were certainly
washed over, Matt decided that now wasn’t the time to bring up any touchy-feely
subjects.

He strode across the living room with two steaming mugs of
tea and sat down beside her, handing one over. Nearly imperceptibly, she
rearranged herself on the sofa, scooting just the tiniest bit away from him.
This was it, then. No sign could be clearer than that. Sarah wasn’t any more
interested in Matt getting close than she’d been three years ago. Fine. He
could deal with that. He was just here for one night, anyway.

Sarah took a sip of peppermint tea as the rain beat down
harder and the winds wailed. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry?” he said beneath the commotion slamming their
cottage from every direction.

Sarah raised her voice just a tad. “I said thanks for the
tea! It’s delicious.”

“Glad that you like it,” Matt called back. The lights
flickered, and they both stared at each other.

“You don’t think we’ll lose power, do you?”

“Robert put in a generator,” Matt said in an effort to
reassure her. But all Sarah could think of was being alone here. With Matt. In
the dark. It was hard enough to resist him with all the lights blazing, Sarah
thought, feeling overheated again. She inched away from him on the sofa, then
laughed when he gave her a quizzical look.

“Just getting comfortable, that’s all.” As if to prove it,
she stuffed a large throw pillow behind her back. “Ah. Much better!”

Matt drank from his tea, then set it down. “Hmm. Yes.”

“When do you think they’ll reopen the ferry?”

“I suppose as soon as the water calms down.”

Outside the large glass door, the ocean tumbled about furiously,
giving no indication that would be anytime soon. “Sarah,” Matt said, studying
her sincerely. “I don’t want you to worry. Don’t think anything will happen
here just because you and I—”

“No, of course not,” she rushed in, feeling idiotic.

“I mean, we do have separate bedrooms, after all.”

“I know,” she answered, wishing with all her might he hadn’t
said that. Bedrooms plus Matt Salvatore in her mind led to one terribly embarrassing
memory. Not that she totally blamed her formerly drunken self. She’d been a
little younger and a whole less wiser back then. These days she understood what
keeping her distance meant. It meant steering clear of unnecessary temptation. She
picked up her tea, standing. “I think I’d better carry this back to the
bedroom. Start unpacking.”

Matt’s brow creased with concern. “Did I say something…?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. It’s just been a long day.”

She stared into deep blue eyes, consumed by them. He was one
good-looking man, maybe the best-looking one she’d ever seen. It was impossible
not to remember what it was like to kiss him and how his mouth had moved over
hers with obviously practiced skill.

He held her gaze, and her heart stilled. “I hear you,” he
said below the tumult of the storm. “Sleep well.”

When she spoke, she found her voice a little breathless. “Will
this place be in one piece tomorrow?” But the truth was, she was more worried
about her heart than the house getting lost in the squall.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. This house has withstood far worse
and lived to tell the tale.”

It was impossible for Sarah to sleep with the winds wailing
outdoors. Each time the house shook, she feared for their security, imagining
their tiny cottage being swept out to sea in a swell. But that was ludicrous.
Matt was right. This place had been built to withstand the winds. And this
wasn’t some huge hurricane anyway. It was nothing more than a fierce winter
storm tearing its way down the east coast. Winds howled again, sending the
window casings rattling in her room, and Sarah sat up with a start. An eerie
light illuminated the room, emanating from the solar-powered nightlight placed
in a low wall outlet. No way could she settle down now. Maybe some more of that
herb tea would help.

Sarah slid out from under the covers and tugged a sweatshirt
over her head. It had grown chilly in the midst of the storm, a damp cold seeping
indoors. She’d be warmer sleeping with someone else but wasn’t about to
consider it. Falling into bed at the drop of a hat wasn’t her style. This was
one reason her escapade with Matt had proved so jarring. While she wasn’t
precisely chaste, she’d slept only with the few guys with whom she’d had committed
relationships. Bedding the best man had been an outlier. So far outside her
realm of normal behavior, in fact, that it had caused her to question her
priorities. And when she examined those, she saw that what she longed for most
of all wasn’t some guy who was in it for a one-night stand. She wanted a guy
who would stick around forever, in sickness and in health
.
Someone who wouldn’t turn tail and run the moment he learned more
about her.

Sarah sighed, wishing so much that Matt had proved himself
to be different. But he’d been like all the rest. Eager to take advantage and
then ride off into the sunrise at the first crack of dawn. Of course, she
understood she was equally to blame for their night of debauchery. It was just
a pity that—after all the trouble it had caused—she couldn’t recall
the details.

Matt rummaged through the cabinets in search of something to
eat. He didn’t know why he was so incredibly hungry, but his stomach had been
growling so loudly he hadn’t been able to sleep. Perhaps he hadn’t had enough
dinner, or maybe it was nerves. Growing up in a big Italian family had taught
him that the best way to settle any insecurity was with a hearty dose of food.
But why should Matt feel unsettled at all? It wasn’t like he had to worry about
becoming involved with Sarah. She clearly had no greater interest in him now
than she’d had previously. And that was a shame too. The truth was she’d never
given him a chance.
Never given us a
chance…to see what might be.
He couldn’t imagine what he’d done wrong, but
she hadn’t even wanted to talk about it. At least she’d been upfront in saying
good-bye. Conniving Katya would have kept him coming back for more, as long as
he’d failed to discover her duplicity.

He set a box of crackers on the counter and opened the refrigerator
in search of some cheese, believing he’d think better after a snack. He didn’t
know what it was about Sarah that still got to him after all this time. For all
intents and purposes, she was a small part of his past. A long-lost flirtation
he should have written off over the years. But seeing her again had proved
something different. Matt had an odd inner instinct that maybe there was a
reason… Some convoluted explanation for why they’d wound up here together. He
wondered vaguely if she was sensing this too. Or whether he’d only imagined
Sarah’s warm brown eyes registering interest as she’d held his gaze, saying
good night.